Diagnosis
by ranestar
Summary: “So I see you are 17, almost 18 and…pregnant. Why else are you here Sakura?” “Because my parents think I’m a nymphomaniac who needs medication.” SasuxSaku
1. Chapter 1

_News Flash: I'm not particularly fond of this pairing but I thought it'd be fun to write about and thus it was CREATED! So, Orichimaru is really out of character here, but I thought he would make a good little addition to the story. And w00t! First chapter! Hope you enjoy._

Sakura waited in the teen help office holding her slightly convex belly. To her right a girl was compulsively tucking her black hair behind her small ears with a ferocious blush spreading her face. To her left a blonde boy with strange birth marks on his face was bouncing his knee up and down at a very fast rate. In her head, Sakura analyzed and diagnosed them; OCD and ADHD.

Across the room were pamphlets about teenage pregnancy. _Perfect_, Sakura thought, _just what I need to remind me_.

"Haruno, Sakura." A small blonde woman in civilian clothes and a clip board called out her name.

Sakura sighed and attempted to get up, she found it harder and harder these days. Out of no where a hand shot out and grasped her own. Sakura's jade green eyes connected with onyx eyes attached to an angular face of a very handsome boy. "Thank you." Sakura breathed.

"No problem." The reply was so quiet Sakura almost missed it, and then he was gone.

"Haruno, Sakura." The same woman repeated with a note of annoyance behind her cheery voice.

Sakura ambled to the windowed door. As she closed it the blind went down, destroying any chance of being able to catch a glimpse of the mysterious boy. "Why hello there, Sakura. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance." A woman with wavy brown hair and peculiar red eyes smiled at her. "My name is Kurenai Yuhi. But you can call me Kurenai."

Sakura's eyes surveyed the woman who called herself Kurenai suspiciously. She was a pretty woman who wore a loose white blouse and a tweed pencil skirt. Something Sakura would never have worn in a million years. She much preferred sweat pants and tee shirts these days.

Kurenai pulled out a single sheet of paper and put on some red framed glasses that hung around her neck. "So I see you are 17, almost 18 and…pregnant. Why else are you here Sakura?"

Sakura managed a tight smile in her direction. "Because my parents think I'm a nymphomaniac who needs medication."

Kurenai smiled back. "Ah, I'm sure it's more than that, but we can start there. I'm afraid we cannot prescribe any medication at this stage in your pregnancy anyways."

"Then I don't see why I should have to sit here for an hour when I have only one question."

"And what question would that be, Sakura?"

"God, stop calling me by my name! They invented pronouns for a reason you know."

"Very well, do you not like your name?"

"I like it but…gah, never mind. I was wondering if you could tell me the name of a boy that comes here."

"I don't know if that goes against our policies here or not, but why don't you describe him to me?"

Sakura's heart sped up a little. "Well, he has black hair that's spikey in the back and a very angular face with black eyes. Oh, and he was wearing a blue shirt today."

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I can't say I know who he is, my only patients are those two who were sitting beside you. They come here pretty often, if you ask them they might know." Kurenai smiled again. "I'll see you next week then?"

Sakura sighed, "Sure, next week." And left the room.

In the foyer the girl and boy were still there, stealing glances at one another. Sakura walked over and stood before the girl. "Who was that boy who helped me stand up?" she demanded, putting her hand on her hip.

The girl blushed and just looked up at her. "Are you deaf?" Sakura raised her voice.

"No. No, I'm not deaf." The girl smoothed her hands over the non existent wrinkles in her skirt.

"Then do you know who he is?"

"Hyuuga, Hinata." The ever increasingly annoying blonde woman chimed, her face was smiling at the girl who sat before Sakura.

"I-I…well, Naruto might know." And Hinata stood up, and made a break for the woman. When she got to the door she took out a tissue and wrapped it around the knob and disappeared inside.

_Who the hell is Naruto? _Sakura thought angrily, glaring around the room.

Then the blonde boy with weird birthmarks piped up. "Did Hinata say my name?" his blue eyes looked up into hers. She couldn't help but find it annoying.

"You're Naruto, huh?" Sakura shuffled over so she could face him.

"Hah, yeah, I guess I am." He smiled and stood up.

"Well, tell me who the guy was that helped me up."

"Oh, him...yes, I know who he is." Naruto growled the sentence.

Sakura sighed. "Yeah, well, I want to know his name."

"Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto spat his name at start bouncing around her. "So, you wanna know his name why? He been causing you any trouble? I can take care of him for you."

Sakura ignored Naruto's eagerness to help her. "Does he come in here often?"

"Oh, no. Today was a very rare occasion. Sometimes though he comes for days in a row then suddenly disappears." Naruto grinned, happy to be of service.

"Well, thanks anyways, I guess." Sakura pulled her purse across her chest, adjusted her sweat pants and left the center.

At home Sakura was making dinner for her mother and father; green beans, mashed potatoes and pork chops. "Evening, Sakura dear." Her father ducked into the kitchen, home from work, she could see his eyes surveying her stomach.

"Hey, dad." Sakura leaned to him to give him a peck on the cheek, chopping the beans into smaller portions as she did so. "Gah!"

"Sakura?" her dad sounded alarmed.

"Holy shit! My finger, ow!" Sakura howled in pain. She had cut her finger open and blood was spilling onto the floor.

"Sakura, language!" her father scolded, but as soon as he saw her finger he started freaking out. "Oh lord! The blood! We'd better get you to the hospital! Should I call 911?"

Sakura groaned, wrapping a dishcloth around her finger. "No, dad, just drive me to emergency." Her already pale skin started to look a bit gray.

The ride to the hospital seemed to take forever to Sakura, who was always weakened at the sight of blood. She hated to think that the stuff was inside of her body, rushing around every second of her life. It was, to say the least, disgusting. The hours spent in the waiting room seemed to take even longer though, and when the nurses finally helped her to a curtained cubicle of space with a bed, the minutes just stretched ahead endlessly.

While sitting on the bed, her finger hastily bandaged with the promise of a doctor being around to check on her soon, Sakura became fidgety and kept rubbing her belly. As she waited in silence, her father had gone to phone her mom and get coffee, Sakura heard the sound of crying to her right. "You don't have any idea what you put us through this evening do you? I hope you enjoyed your little attempt at death, young man because hear me, this will be the last. We've been patient on you skipping out on your appointments at the teen help center, but no more. Starting tomorrow, you are going to be attending school again and seeing a therapist on a regular basis." An angry voice was scolding some poor boy.

When she heard the shuffling of feet and the sliding of curtains, Sakura couldn't help but poke her nose into the cubicle next to her. She stood up and parted the curtain slightly to look in. On the bed was a boy who had his wrists bandaged and headphones on. He was wearing one of the horrible hospital gowns and she could see his thigh. Sakura was just about to close the curtain again when the boy looked at her, his onyx eyes locking with hers. Sakura gasped and frantically tried to close the curtain. _It's him! _She thought.

In these attempts of closing the curtain, she successfully ripped the poor dismally yellow thing down to her feet. So there she stood, holding her injured finger, staring at Uchiha Sasuke's thigh and turning beet red. "Uh, hi." She mumbled and sat down on her bed, proceeding to stare straight ahead.

She thought she could hear him laughing but couldn't be sure because the blood was pounding so loudly in her head. And then, for once in her life, someone intervened at the perfect time. "Ah, sorry for the wait, Ms. Haruno." A handsome young doctor with long, straight black hair smiled at her.

Sakura coughed uncomfortably as his strange yellow eyes shifted to the curtain on the floor. "Yeah, I, um…lost my balance." Sakura offered, and she saw Sasuke smirk.

"I see, well, do not worry about it, happens all the time." The doctor said and adjusted his name tag; Orichimaru was the only name on it.

As Orichimaru took Sakura's sore hand and inspected it, she took the opportunity to glare at Sasuke, how could he be so calm and cool all the time? And why did he have to be so gorgeous? "Look's like you'll need some stitches." The doctor commented.

"Perfect…" Sakura moaned, shutting her eyes tightly, preparing for the worst.

Her father wasn't back yet, probably trying to avoid her for the whole ordeal because he didn't like being seen with his pregnant daughter. Sakura sighed and blinked back tears; she didn't handle pain, or the anticipation leading up to it. "Sorry," her voice warbled. "Can you just give me a second here?" and she took a few deep breaths.

And in a flash, Sasuke was by her side, holding out a tissue to her. Sakura was beyond surprised, in fact, she started to laugh hysterically. Just the whole picture of Sasuke in a hospital gown that hardly covered him, looking so serious and concerned…she couldn't help herself. In fact, she barely felt the needle and thread sew the wound shut. "There we go." Orichimaru had a confused expression on his face. "So, make sure to come back in a week and a half and we'll take that out for you, but for now just go home and take a few Advil for the pain."

When he was gone, Sakura looked over to Sasuke. "Thanks…for the whole thing earlier and just now." She was sure she looked a mess, with her post crying face and mussed up hair.

"Mhm, don't worry about it." Sasuke mumbled, raising an eyebrow at something behind her…her father.

"Oh, hey dad." Sakura smiled weakly.

"We are going home _now _Sakura." Was all he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura's cold pork, potatoes and green beans sat before her, their little invisible veggie eyes starting at her face. Sakura picked up the morose plate of food to heat in the microwave. While it popped and sizzled, she stared at her bandaged finger, trying to flex it. She whimpered childishly, the pain killers she had taken earlier were only taking away some of the discomfort. When the microwave sounded a nasal beeping, Sakura's appetite was lost and instead of eating the pathetic, wilted looking meal, she dumped it into the garbage, planning to gorge herself on chocolate later.

In her room, Sakura lay down on her bed, analyzing both of her encounters with the boy by the name Uchiha Sasuke. She could only come to one conclusion; she had had enough of his shenanigans. Who did he think he was, being so ridiculously good looking and kind to her, the leaving without giving her _or _asking for a phone number? It made her steam. As she lay in her ever bright, green room, a soft knock came from her door. "Enter." Sakura chirped, trying to hide her anger.

The door opened and her mother peeked in. "Hello, darling, I heard daddy had to take you to the hospital today?" she phrased it like she didn't know for sure.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Just cut my finger while making dinner, see?" Sakura held up her hand, giving her mother the benefit of a 360 turn.

Mrs. Haruno crossed the room in timid steps and perched beside Sakura. "School is tomorrow, would you like a ride?"

Sakura sighed, her mother reminded her of a cross between a deer caught in headlights and a bird. She had peach-y pink hair with a few strands of gray in it that fell down to her shoulders in loose waves if it wasn't in a loose bun. Her face was innocent looking and wide, giving her eyes a perpetually dazed look, (Sakura had her to thank for her abundance in the forehead department.) and her movements and way of speaking were always soft and questioning, like she wasn't sure of how to act. Sakura was glad she didn't inherit these traits. But on the bright side of her mother's personality, she hadn't yet formed an opinion on Sakura's pregnancy and treated her gently all the time because of it. "No mom, I can walk there. But I have an ultra sound after school; if you want…you could pick me up."

Sakura's mom whistled through her lips worriedly. "Oh, honey…I'm sorry, your father and I are going to be busy looking for a new dish washing machine at that time."

Sakura looked away, trying to compose her face. A _dishwasher_, what kind of lame excuse was that? Her mother may want to please her father by not engaging with Sakura in those kind of situations at the hospital but still…think of a better lie. "Oh, then that's okay, the clinic isn't very far anyways. Should I pick up anything from the grocery store on my way back?"

Her mother looked guilty about her lie, but couldn't admit to it now. "Not tomorrow, sweetie, I think I'll make dinner that night." She smiled, like this made it all up to her. But Sakura liked cooking she liked trying out new recipes and watching her family's reaction to them.

So she could only smile and nod. "Thanks, mommy." They hugged for a small amount of time then her mother jumped up from the bed, smoothing the cream skirt she was wearing.

"Well, dear. Set your alarm for 6:30 then. We can't have you late for school!"

Sakura adjusted her seating arrangement on her small twin bed. Her shifting weight causing small creaks in the box-spring mattress. Her hands drummed her slightly bulging stomach.

After minutes of trying to get Sasuke out of her head, Sakura decided she might as well try to fall asleep, since there seemed to be escape from her mind. She carefully slipped into the bathroom across the hall, trying not to catch the attention of her father downstairs, who was watching a football game. But after she was done combing her hair, washing her face and brushing her teeth her father called out to her. "Sakura, come down here please."

She couldn't very well pretend she hadn't heard him and go back to her room; Mr. Haruno's temper was something to be reckoned with. "Yes, daddy, what is it?"

The commercials came on, so he turned to her. "I saw this add for an adoption agency in the paper today, we should look into it."

Sakura's face fell. "Dad, we've been through this, I don't want to put it up for adoption, I want to keep it."

Mr. Haruno's face was stern. "Sakura, you are not equipped to take care of a baby, especially when the father refuses to help. I understand what you're feeling but wouldn't you rather know your child is growing up in a suitable environment with able and loving parents than constantly worrying about jobs, school and daycares?"

Sakura knew he was right. "B-but…well, I know…it's just that…"

"No, Sakura. It's not anything, I saw you in the hospital today flirting with that boy. You want to continue life as a teenager after this, correct? Well, after you are noticeably pregnant, no boy is going to want to flirt with you and even more so when you have a kid in a stroller with you."

Sakura bit back tears; it was useless to fight him. "Yeah, I'll look into it then." She mumbled, wiping her nose with her pajama sleeve.

"Good, I knew you'd come to your senses, darling." And with that, the commercials were over and his eyes were back to being glued on the game.

Sakura stood slowly, and trudged up the stairs. From her mother's room she could hear a sitcom playing on their T.V., when she stuck her head through the door her mother looked at her with sad eyes. "Sweat pea, don't be mad at your father, he cares about you…it's just he has strange ways of showing it." Mrs. Haruno smiled.

"Yeah I know, mom…I'll see you tomorrow, g'night."

Sakura awoke to a very rude and persistent alarm clock, flashing red lights at her and blaring its maddening beeps. "Fu—, guh…" Sakura rolled over, smashing the button with alarming strength, remembering that this meant morning.

She rolled onto her back, rubbing her hands over her face, willing her eyes to open. Sakura was not a morning person.

Out of bed and vigorously washing her mouth out of any bad breath, Sakura chanced a look at her face. "Crap…" were the only words she could say.

Her normally plainly pretty face was swollen with sleep and her lips were cracked, on top of that, her hair was piled haphazardly up around her head, like a bird had nested in it. "What have I done to deserve this?"

"Deserve what, honey?" her mother, a definite morning person chimed happily.

Sakura only groaned, throwing a glare in her direction.

"Oh, um, breakfast is downstairs!" Mrs. Haruno knew better than to try and engage Sakura in conversation at this time in the morning, and scurried off.

Downstairs the kitchen reeked of oatmeal, Sakura's least favourite food. But she knew better than to skip breakfast and forced herself to down at least half of the bowl.

At last she was out the door, clad in a bright red felt jacket and white tam. Under her bulky exterior she wore a white sweatshirt and loose jeans with a tear in the knee. Sakura used to be the epitome of fashion and while she did not lack it today, she was no longer every girl's idol. It just so happened that the man who got her pregnant was one of her best friend's boyfriends. Sakura had no idea that they were 'going out' the night that it happened but Ten-ten refused to forgive her. Ino, naturally, had sided with Ten-ten as well, seeing that it would be more beneficial to her popularity. What made this situation even more ridiculous was that Ten-ten had gone back to Neji after he claimed it was all Sakura's fault for seducing him then denied he had gotten her pregnant. That was when the rumours of her being a slut, whore and skank had started.

Remembering this made Sakura want to cry, she had known Ino since she started school and shortly after Ten-ten had joined their friendship. They had made promises of never letting a man come between them and said they'd be best friends forever. They had traditions like Friday night sleepovers, Saturday night parties and Wednesday movie nights that were held in high esteem up until a few months ago. But then it was broken.

Sakura wasn't looking where she was going when she bumped into someone and almost fell over. "Watch where you're going, whore." Ino's famously beautiful face looked down at her in disgust.

Sakura was used to these words but it still made her heart ache to watch that phrase come from Ino's always bubblegum smacking, pink frosted lips. "Uh, sorry."

"I think you'd be happy to know Ten-ten has totally forgiven Neji now and she's ditched all her other guys just for him." Ino informed her.

"Is that so? Well, I'm happy for them, except for the fact that Ten-ten chose a two-faced, lying bastard with no soul." Sakura replied, just as cattily.

"Excuse me? All I hear are bitter naggings from some bitch who doesn't know how to control her hormones." Ino retorted.

"Well that's because your pig-headedness is obviously blocking your ability to accept facts from the girl who you'd been best friends with since kindergarten."

"Ugh, just shut up already, that insult is getting _so _old. Besides, Sai is meeting up with me on the walk to school, and if he sees me with you it'll compromise our relationship." The blonde girl said as she flounced off, stylish parka and all.

Sakura sagged after she was far enough ahead. Life really didn't like her right now; in fact, it was kicking her in the shins. She sat down on the sidewalk, wondering if it was really worth it to go to school today. Tears were forming in her eyes and Sakura tried to blink them back, sighing. Then out of no where a knee was nudging her. "Go away." She told it numbly.

A grunt, a very familiar grunt was its reply. Sakura looked up to an outstretched hand, its owner, Sasuke. "What?" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I go to the school down the street now." he said curtly.

Sakura just blinked, she couldn't believe this was happening, the yesterday had been truly bizarre, but this…Sasuke grabbed her wrist and hoisted her up. "Why does it always seem I'm the one who needs to be picked up or saved?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"It must be the pink hair…vulnerable colour." Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Hey! It's natural, okay!" Sakura's face matched her hair, and she lightly punched Sasuke's arm, but he kept walking. "Ugh, you are so insufferable!"

"Am I?" Sasuke questioned, a smile gracing his perfect lips.

"Well, yeah, you are always around but I hardly know who you are or why you're always where I am."

A bigger smile appeared, Sasuke opened his mouth but before he could say anything Sakura interrupted again. "Whoa! You have a tongue piercing?"

Sasuke just raised his eyebrows; Sakura had ruined her chance to get to know about him personally for the time being. "Yeah, I've had it since I was fourteen."

"Wow…I bet that feels weird." Sakura's green eyes were wide with fascination. "Open your mouth again!"

Sasuke didn't budge. "Feels weird for whom?"

Sakura's face was puzzled for a moment then understood what he meant. Her face turned a deeper red. "Hush, you." She said, like she was a kid.

"You know, for someone as…um…pregnant as you, you're quite innocent aren't you?"

Sakura's temper flared up. "You hardly know me and what kind of situation I'm in so why don't you just shut up?" She yelled and stopped away, towards the now close school.

At her locker, Sakura stopped to catch her breath, stomping away so angrily for so long took a lot of energy out of a person. But when she closed her locker a very unwelcome face was opening his. "What…the…hell?" Sakura screeched.

"Hey, locker buddy." Sasuke's smug voice and dancing eyes taunted her.

"No way, why are you everywhere?" she accused.

"No reason, it's…fate I guess."

The last sentence made Sakura's stomach churn. "Don't ever mention fate." And as if on cue, Neji waltzed by with Ten-ten clinging to his arm.

"Hey, Sakura." He sneered.

Sakura stiffened, ready to punch him in the face, but he was already too far down the hallway. But not far enough away that she couldn't hear Ten-ten commenting to him. "You are _so _nice to her, Neji. I mean, even after what she did to you. I wish I could be as nice as you!"

Sakura wanted to be sick. In fact, she was going to be sick, she charged to the bathroom, making it just in time. It was then she decided that she was not going to be attending school today, she was going to treat herself to an ice cream then hole up in the library. "Mm, good plan." She commented to herself while leaving the school, not even stopping when two girls gave her the evil eye.

Today was going to be completely dedicated to her, nobody else, not even that stupid Sasuke.

_News Flash: So I have completed the second chapter! YAY! Ugh, I'm sick so that's the main reason for the typing and such. I hope you enjoyed it even though it's sort of short. Reviews are deeply appreciated!_


	3. Chapter 3

At a little roadside ice cream stand Sakura ordered one scoop each of her favourite flavours; mint chocolate chip with fudge ripple. To the side of the stand where some plastic tables with benches so Sakura gave in to her aching feet and sat down, thoroughly enjoying the thick creamy goodness coating her tongue. She then heard a sound similar to a chainsaw cutting through a block of steel. Sakura looked over to see a very old, red truck pulling over. The owner; Naruto.

He jumped out, slamming the door behind him so hard Sakura was afraid it would fall off its hinges. Naruto shielded his eyes, then seeing Sakura, started to wave exuberantly yelling, "Hey, hey, Sakura!" at the top of his lungs.

Sakura tried to pretend that she didn't see him and got up to start walking the other way. But her great luck and skill at ignoring people did not allow this, she felt his hand on her shoulder turning her around. "Oh man, Sakura, I thought that was you! I was getting some ice cream before I went to pick up Hinata for the movies."

"Why are you going to the movies in the afternoon?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, something about the even numbers of time and germ activity or something, I don't know but it's the only time she'll go to the movie theatre. Do you want to come with us?" Naruto was practically jumping up and down.

"Sounds…great but I wouldn't want to intrude on your little 'date'. But why aren't you in school?" Sakura was getting dizzy from watching him.

"Oh, well we only go to school part time. For Hinata it's because of all the people and stress and for me it's because I can't sit still long enough to learn anything. Without the drugs anyways, and I don't take those. And as for the date…" he started laughing. "Hinata and I are only friends! We would never feel that way about each other, it's just we kind of got along when we found out we both went to the same therapist and I get bored easily so she keeps me company."

Sakura rubbed her face. "I guess that makes sense…"

"Well, will you come with us then? Please?" Naruto whined, his big, cyan eyes staring at her.

Sakura looked at the melted cone dribbling on her hand, thought about her plan for the library and how it would probably end up with the old librarians staring and whispering. "Fine."

Naruto cheered, "That's the way to be! Say…I don't see another car around here, did you walk?"

"Yeah, my parents haven't taught me how to drive yet…they don't trust me."

"Oh well, no problem, we'll just take my truck. It doesn't sound as loud when you're sitting in it." Naruto assured her.

"Great…" Sakura sighed.

The radio blared country music for the whole ride, almost drowning out the absence of a muffler. When they pulled up the drive to the most picture-esque white picket house Sakura had ever seen all the noises stopped. "People say I'm the most hyperactive kid with the most obnoxious car, you know." Naruto laughed, walking up to the door.

"I can see why." Sakura mumbled, taking off her seatbelt.

After four distinguished knocks Hinata peeked out the door. Upon seeing Sakura she squeaked, closing the door. "Aw come on, Hinata! It's only Sakura, she isn't feeling well today and I invited her along." Naruto said into the door.

A few seconds later Hinata opened the door again, allowing Sakura to get a good look at her. Her dark hair was messy and unkempt around her face and she wore a peach shirt that almost blended into her skin with maroon sweatpants. Sakura gasped, taken aback by her appearance. She couldn't believe anyone could be comfortable in clothing like that. "Ah, um, hello…Sakura-Sakura." Hinata whispered quietly, stumbling over her words.

"Aw don't worry about her, Sakura; she just gets this way around new people." Naruto assured her.

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding at all, Hinata. If you'd like I could just leave now." Sakura offered, sensing this was the best approach.

Hinata just shook her head, allowing the dark hair to curtain her blushing face. "I am sorry for my strange behaviour, but I would be…honoured if you would accompany us to the movies."

Sakura was a bit confused, that was true, but she couldn't just leave because she was weirded out. "Alright, it would be my pleasure." She said, going along with Hinata's speech.

"Awesome! Let's go then, Sakura you can get the front!" Naruto galloped back to the truck.

But before Sakura accepted she looked at Hinata ducking her head and turning her face and decided it might be better for her to decline. "That's alright; I got the front on the ride here so why doesn't Hinata sit with you? I'm not so big that I won't fit in the back."

Hinata gave her a grateful look and helped her into the back, which was no easy feat.

On the car ride there Sakura quickly deduced that Naruto's view on Hinata and his 'friendship' was very much one-sided in the only friends area. It was easy to see how Hinata had a crush on him; she was always saying kind things, complimenting him and blushing whenever he said anything kind back to her. Sakura knew how it felt to be in her shoes.

At the movie theatre they all decided seeing a comedy would be best; something light and funny that wouldn't make the girls cry and or the 'boy' snore. They ended up seeing something about tennis and romance, Sakura couldn't really remember, she was too preoccupied with thoughts of Sasuke.

In the theatre Naruto sat in between the Hinata and Sakura. She could see him glancing her way and putting his hand on the arm rest, no doubt waiting for her to do the same. Sakura scoffed and settled down into her brooding mode. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hinata sneakily mimic what Naruto was doing to Sakura. Poor Naruto was too oblivious though to notice anything and once the movie started he got so into it he forgot that either one of them was there. "Aw, c'mon man, don't do that to her! Think of the romance!" He yelled at the screen. A few seniors shushed him and the two girls pulled him back down into his seat.

After the film had ended Naruto insisted they get a free refill of popcorn before they left. "Its awesome, you get food during _and _after the movie! But it'd be great if they sold some of that ramen stuff here. Have you ever had it before, Sakura? Once on a field trip my teacher showed me this little café place that sold the best noodles ever. I go back there whenever I can." He babbled on.

"I'll have to try it sometime I guess." Sakura said a bit absent mindedly. "But I really have to pee so I'll be back in a sec."

To her left Hinata nodded. "M-me too."

While washing her hands Sakura noticed Hinata using hand sanitizer on everything she touched, including the tap before turning the water on. "I'm sorry about how I acted." Hinata started out.

"What? Don't apologize, it's just I couldn't turn Naruto down, he was way too enthusiastic. I wasn't aware of you would prefer to be alone with him." Sakura interrupted before Hinata could say anything further.

"What are you talking about?" Hinata's face was surprised.

"Oh come on, it's obvious you like him. Well, to anyone but Naruto." Sakura winked.

Hinata blushed, looking away. "O-oh…I didn't know. B-but, you d-don't like him…right?"

"Are you kidding? Of course not! Not that he isn't nice or anything, he's just…not my type." Sakura quickly backtracked before she offended Hinata.

The dark haired girl smiled and sighed. "He is great, isn't he? What is your type anyway, tall, dark, handsome?"

It took a minute for Sakura to realize she was teasing her about Sasuke; who knew Hinata was capable of such a thing? "Was it that obvious when I asked you?"

"Yes." The simple reply made Sakura remember how interested in who Sasuke was.

But before any more thoughts about him could trouble her she opened the door. "Well, Naruto is probably wondering where we are."

"Do you know how many germs are on bathroom doors?" Hinata cringed as Sakura gripped the handle.

"No, and I don't care. Hurry up or I'll make you open the door yourself."

At the mention of touching the supposedly disgusting handle, Hinata raced through. Sakura laughed to herself. Maybe today hadn't turned out so bad after all.

_News Flash: Yeah, I know, it's short. So please don't complain about it! I've been ridiculously busy with school since this semester I have all my hard courses. I'm home today so I decided I should write this chapter. So please don't get all mad about how long it took. But I hope you enjoyed it anyways._


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura was, once again, seated in the back of Naruto's truck

_Thanks to '__Teenyjewel__' and '__Bag o' Moon Frogs__' for the idea for this chapter!_

_Warning: This chapter may be a teeny bit crude and there will be a little bit of harsher curses. So close your eyes if you don't want to read them!_

Sakura was, once again, seated in the back of Naruto's truck. She watched Hinata with a bemused expression. The poor girl knew nothing of the art of flirting; all she did was giggle nervously when Naruto said something humourous. "Sakura, would you like to come in for a little while? We have lemonade and cookies… I mean, you don't have to, if you want to go home!" Hinata offered, then hurriedly back tracked, giving Sakura the option of refusing.

"That'd be great, Hinata. Is…Naruto invited, too?" Sakura smiled.

"Of course I'm invited!" Naruto yelled, jumping out of the truck and slamming the door loudly.

Hinata helped the pink haired girl out of the truck, smiling a bit sheepishly. "You should know my cousin is staying at my house temporarily due to family issues…he can be quite…rambunctious, to say the least. I just thought I should warn you."

Sakura laughed. "Rambunctious, you say? He sounds a bit like Naruto."

Hinata giggled back quietly, frowning. "Well, not quite." And she headed towards the door, where Naruto was bouncing up and down.

While the front of the house was quaint enough, it was also deceiving. Inside Hinata's house the floors were covered with expensive looking hardwood and a mahogany spiral staircase led to a loft filled with books. "My father encourages us to read…" Hinata explained, leading them to the kitchen after showing them around.

Naruto made himself at home, grabbing the lemonade and setting out some glasses on the granite countertops. "Where're the cookies, Hinata?" He questioned while rummaging through random cupboards.

"I have them already." Hinata held up a store bought bag. "But first wash your hands."

Sakura did as she was told, making sure to use the designated towel for drying hands on that Hinata had pointed out earlier. She was waiting for Naruto to get out of the bathroom when she noticed a few photographs on the fridge. It seemed one had Hinata's whole family in it. All of them had long dark hair and gray eyes. Looking closely at the father Sakura noticed he had a very familiar face, but she couldn't remember where she would have seen him before. "Hey, Hinata, what does your dad do?"

"Well, he teaches karate at our family dojo and he's also a head of a law firm, I'm supposed to be inheriting both of them after I go through law school." Hinata sighed.

"Hmm, I guess it would be possible I've seen him before then." Sakura mumbled, sitting down at the kitchen table; fresh flowers were the center piece.

"Yeah, it is possible." Hinata struggled to keep the conversation going, but failed.

In the silence, Sakura heard a faint squeaking of what seemed to be bed springs. "Uh…" she said, wondering if she was correct in thinking what she was.

Hinata turned a deep crimson. "Th-that would be…um…my cousin." She explained; it seemed Sakura was right.

She tried not to laugh, covering her mouth. "Oh, god…nngh, ooh, GOD!" sharp exclamations drifted through the walls.

Sakura's stomach started to churn; the afternoon's popcorn was making itself known. "Do you have another bathroom, Hinata? Naruto is taking forever."

"Oh yeah, just down that hall on the left. Knowing Naruto though, he's probably taking a shower or something…" Hinata smiled, "He always knows how to make himself at home."

"Thanks, side effect of being pregnant, you know?" Sakura said, aware of Hinata's increasing blush and quickly made her way down the hall, all the while the sounds of Hinata's cousin getting louder.

She snorted, "What a Romeo." And went about her business.

When exiting the bathroom she came nearly nose to nose with a very familiar, yet flushed face, her blonde hair in a state of disarray and makeup smeared. "Oh. My. God." Ino's eyes widened choked out the words. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

Sakura's head spun, this was too much. "I'm here visiting a friend…what are _you _doing here?"

"You're still after him? You wouldn't, even a slut like you would know to stay away after all of this!" Ino stepped back.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura was genuinely confused and could feel her eyebrows furrowing.

"What's the matter, babe?" A shirtless figure, no…a shirtless Neji put his hand on Ino's bare shoulder.

Sakura was at a loss for words. "You're calling _me_ a slut? What are you doing with him? You cannot seriously still be angry with me after you've been doing...this for who knows how long!" her voice rose.

Neji's face hardened, he looked down at Sakura. "You are not going to say anything about this, understand? I will personally destroy what little social standing you have if Ten-ten ever hears about this."

"Don't worry about that honey; she won't believe Sakura of all people even if she does tell her!" Ino slid past Sakura into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and turning on the shower.

"What do you think you're doing? Is it not enough to trick me into sleeping with you? And now you're taking advantage of Ino!" Sakura screeched.

Neji closed the gap between them, one arm on the wall above her head; he gazed down at her, any trace of anger gone. "Aw c'mon, you know it isn't like that, baby."

"Don't you DARE baby me!" Sakura pushed him away.

Naruto was suddenly at her side. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"This is a private conversation, squirt." Neji smiled menacingly at the significantly shorter blonde.

"Oh yeah? From the way it looked Sakura doesn't want you around." Naruto growled.

"Um…what's going on?" Hinata's whisper questioned.

Sakura looked down the hall to see Hinata holding a glass of lemonade. "Nothing." She replied, pushing her way past everyone. "I'll see you later, Hinata. I'm going home."

"Wait, I'll drive you!" Naruto called after her.

"No thanks, I'll walk." Sakura said calmly, running through the front door.

"I'll follow her, Cuz." She heard Neji's voice.

Half way down the street she heard a car engine following closely behind her. "Get the fuck away from me!" Sakura screamed through tears.

"Hey, now, don't use that kind of language with me honey…" Neji got out of his car.

Sakura tried to run, but she mostly just stumbled in her emotional state. Soon she was in Neji's strong grip. "You realize it's better if you don't say anything about what you saw today, right?" he smiled cruelly.

"I said leave me alone!" Sakura pounded on his chest, but his grip just grew tighter.

"Don't be like that, Sakura." The way he said her name the s was drawn out, just like a snake sounded and next thing she knew Neji was forcing his tongue into her mouth.

Tears were pouring down her face as she tried to squirm away. "You jerk!" She slapped him when he let up.

The smug look on his face was cleaned off and replaced with one of pure rage. Neji started to raise his hand, "You little-"

Out of nowhere, a hand grasped Neji's wrist. "I believe the lady said she wanted to be left alone." The voice said from behind Neji.

Sakura was hiccupping as Neji turned around to face no other than Sasuke; their faces matching in expression. "Who do you think you are?" Neji spat out, letting loose a punch from his other arm.

Sasuke caught it right before it hit his face. "I don't think you have the privilege to learn that my friend, get back in your car and go home." And with that, he returned the punch straight to Neji's nose.

"Why you bastard!" He held his nose and wailed, blood gushing through his fingers.

"You might want to take care of that." Sasuke glared.

Neji retreated to his car, but before slamming the door he yelled out, "You know you're nothing more than a whore, Sakura, and you're always going to be one!"

Sakura glowered through her tears and flipped him the bird before he drove off.

After the vehicle was out of sight, Sakura broke down, tears once again streaming down her red face. "T-thanks, wh-what are you doing here?" she tried to detract from her emotional outburst by making conversation.

"I was…on a walk." Sasuke replied flatly.

"O-oh…that's n-nice." Sakura sniffed, wiping her eyes.

She heard him laugh, and was then enveloped in his arms; head against his chest. "You…are ridiculous."

_News Flash!: Yosh, shortness, but the next chapter is already underway but won't be posted until later because I should be packing and such. The themes in this chapter are a little mature, so I was wondering if I should change the rating. If you think so just tell me because I don't want to go breaking any rules! Ugh, the wait was longer than I anticipated, mostly because I had a lot of things going on. Including my birthday! Bwahaha, my hair is going to be gray soon! (Not)_


	5. Chapter 5

Sakura stood, encircled in Sasuke's arms for what seemed like eternity, but at the same time, two seconds. As he pulled away a string of snot was between Sasuke's shirt and Sakura's nose as she hiccupped. "A-ah, I'm sorry!"

But the dark haired boy didn't seem fazed at all, he just took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at the tearstained, mucus-covered mess.

Sakura pulled out a crumpled tissue of her own from her pocket and blew her red nose and quickly swiped at her eyes, not helping the already smudged mascara that was giving her face a very raccoon-like effect.

"I'm really sorry that you had to get caught up in…that." Sakura apologized again.

"Stop saying sorry, it's pathetic." Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes and reaching a hand behind his head, showing off his bandaged wrist.

Jade green eyes flashed in a moment of annoyance, "What do you mean, pathetic?"

"Pathetic, as in miserably or contemptibly inadequate." Was the quipped retort.

Sakura's pink eyebrows rose. "Wow, you're very, um, smart."

"Yeah well, you're very, um, pathetic." Sasuke mocked.

Sakura lost her temper, she threw her hands in the air and stomped off yelling, "Why are you so nice to me and then so rude the next second? I don't understand you!"

In an absurd movement, Sasuke was by her side again, still smirking and keeping pace with her stomping. "Hmm, nobody seems to understand me."

"And how the hell do you manage to move so fast?" Sakura screamed, stopping in her tracks.

Sasuke merely shrugged his boney shoulders nonchalantly and stuck his hands in his pockets. Sakura eyed him for a few seconds, taking in the contours of his profile, and then sighing, gave up and started walking again. The boy easily fell into stride.

Fifteen minutes the two walked like that, in complete silence. Sakura sorted through various witty things to say to lighten the mood but couldn't find the right time to pose an intellectual remark.

When they reached Sakura's quaint house, she turned to Sasuke. "Well, thanks, I guess." Somehow a blush had appeared on her cheeks.

"Mm, no problem." Sasuke mumbled.

"So, are you gonna be at school tomorrow?" she felt stupid asking but her insatiable curiosity had to be nourished.

"Are you?" he sounded genuinely interested.

"Yeah."

"Well, then, I'll see you there." And he was out of sight before Sakura could utter another word.

"What. Is. He?" she ground out to herself.

At dinner, Mrs. Haruno lived up to her promise and cooked a mediocre meal of grilled chicken with peas and carrots.

Sakura picked dismally at the dry meat as she thought of the day. She had made a fool of herself, she decided, and she wasn't so sure what Sasuke thought of that. "Honey, you aren't eating your dinner, it's important you know…" her mother interrupted her thoughts.

Mr. Haruno harrumphed and chewed loudly on his vegetables. "What are you making tomorrow, Sakura?"

"For what?" Sakura mumbled, not thinking.

"For dinner, of course! Your mother shouldn't strain herself after a hard day's work…the product is not that desirable." He blatantly lied about Mrs. Haruno's cooking abilities.

"I haven't thought of anything yet, do you want me to go shopping after school for something?" Sakura replied.

"Sure, I'll give you some money in the morning." Her father threw down his napkin over the unfinished meal. "I'm retiring to the den tonight, if you need anything I'll be watching the game." He nodded at the two women and left the table, leaving plate and napkin behind.

Mrs. Haruno shook her head, a small, worried smile creasing her face. She picked up her plate and her husband's to take into the kitchen. "You know he never means any harm, Sakura." She planted a kiss on her daughter's head while passing behind.

"Yeah, he never means anything else, either." Sakura sighed, following the older woman.

Back up in her room, Sakura changed into her pajamas and was lying under her covers in the dark. The day had been confusing and emotional and she needed time to sort through it all.

But as soon as she layed back into her pillows to ponder her problems at hand, her eyes drooped and soon Sakura was breathing deeply and evenly, asleep.

An all too familiar braying of her alarm clock awoke a puffy faced Sakura. She scrunched her eyes shut and stretched, while allowing her left arm to clear the annoying device onto the floor, where it hit with a satisfying clunk. Sakura then sat up, reaching towards her ceiling and put her foot down onto the clock. "Ah, crap." She looked down to see it broken. "I don't have enough money to buy another one…" Sakura whined to herself, and she was not about to ask her parents for the funds to buy one.

Downstairs, after taking a quick shower and throwing on a red tee shirt and white skirt, Sakura glanced at the clock. She was definitely going to be late. The toaster produced two crisp pieces of toast and Sakura dove for them, slathered on some butter and headed out the door as fast as she could, grabbing her school bag.

Half way down the street the bag started to weigh on her shoulder and Sakura began to sweat. _Perfect. _She grumbled, struggling to keep up an elegant walk. She had ten minutes to get to school and it took at least twenty minutes, walking at a swift pace.

"Having trouble?" she heard a silky voice call to her, she could detect a snide undertone.

"No, I'm doing great!" Sakura sarcastically replied, turning around, smiling a poisonous smile, only to see Sasuke smirking back at her, from his car.

The smile instantly dropped and she glared, expecting him to bring up yesterday to make fun of her. Instead, he just gestured to his surroundings and said, "Get in, or you'll be late."

Sakura bit her lip. It was a _really _nice car, almost so nice that she didn't want to get in and mess it up. But she couldn't say no, because Sasuke was right, she'd be late. So she shoved away her pride and plucked up enough courage to open the door and plopped herself down inside. "Now that wasn't so hard was it?" Sasuke smiled genuinely at her.

"Hmph." Sakura turned her face to the window for the rest of the ride.

When the arrived at the school, Sakura became embarrassed by her earlier actions and again, had to swallow her pride and thank Sasuke. "I appreciate you giving me a ride…thank you."

"No problem, I'll give you a ride anytime you want." He was looking the other way while he said this, so Sakura had no idea if he was serious or not.

"Yeah, well…" she turned away and started walking to the main entrance, then almost got bowled over by a kid that could rival Naruto in his obnoxiousness. "Kiba!" Sakura shrilled, an angry glare crossed her face.

Kiba flipped her off, his prominent canines glistening as he smiled and his dog, Akamaru barked at her as well. Sakura exhaled sharply, ready to give him a piece of her mind when Sasuke was right there with her. "Hey, you gonna apologize?" he yelled at him.

Kiba turned around, mischievous grin still on his face and laughed. "Nah, I wasn't plannin' on it." And then promptly mooned the two before walking back to his clan of misfits.

"I think you might want to reconsider that." Sasuke was glaring now.

Sakura was shrinking by the second as questioning gazes focused in on them. "Th-that's okay, Sasuke…" she whispered.

"No, it's not okay. A man should not treat a lady like that." His jaw was set.

Kiba snorted. "Get a load of this guy, he thinks he's the shit around here, eh?" he yelled back at his comrades as he approached Sasuke.

The cronies cackled at dog-boy's remark and before Sakura could protest anything, Sasuke had closed the space between Kiba and himself and was grabbing his spiked dog collar. "I don't know about you, but I don't believe in holding back on people who don't show me respect. So as far as you should be concerned, _you _are the shit at the bottom of the barrel here." And then he sent Kiba flying at the ground.

"H-hey, man, whaddya think your doin'?" The boy whined as he scrambled to get his footing.

"I think it's pretty obvious." Sasuke growled.

Kiba recognized that Sasuke wasn't kidding around and backed down. "I'm sorry…Sakura." He grimaced as he mumbled the sentence.

Sakura's face matched her hair at that moment and she was stunned into silence. "A…ah…ah…that's…fine." She finally stuttered.

Sasuke nodded and Kiba sauntered back to his group, Akamaru in tow while smiling and rubbing the back of his head. "Aw, he wasn't worth it, anyways." He said, trying to retain his manliness.

Sasuke's hand slipped behind Sakura's back as he guided her away from the courtyard and into the school. Inside he finally sighed, rubbing his temples. "So, who were they?"

Sakura was still stunned but managed to articulate a bit better. "Well, that guy was Inuzuka, Kiba and that was his dog Akamaru. His group is all the 'ruffians' in the school, Kankuro, Temari, Gaara…those three are siblings and Shino. There are a few people on the outsides but those are the main suspects." She explained, and then turned to the window to point out some other groups. "Over at the table under the tree is our resident genius, Shikamaru, who everyone suspects is also a pot-head. And the fat one by him is his best friend, Chouji. The athletes are led by the kid with the bowl cut, Rock Lee and…and well, the so-called 'popular group' is pretty obvious." Sakura motioned towards the table with Neji, Ino and Ten-ten.

After the long synopsis, Sasuke just stared out the window. "And…you used to hang out with the 'popular' clique?" he looked skeptically at Sakura.

"What? Is that so hard to believe?" she frowned and started walking to her locker.

"Well…it's hard to see you being as…catty as them." The raven haired male said, a surprising amount of honesty in his voice.

"Yeah, well, whatever. It doesn't really matter now. What classes do you have?" Sakura replied offhandedly, changing the subject.

And Sasuke let it change. "English, Science, Math, Music." He was back to his short sentences.

Sakura went wide-eyed, "music?" she giggled.

"Yeah."

"Oh, come on, what do you play?"

"Bass, guitar, drums and piano."

"You have to be kidding me…I can't believe this, you're a genius!" Sakura cried.

"Supposedly." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Sakura opened her locker and took out her Math text-book. "So, you have music last block?" she questioned.

"Mhm…" Sasuke raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason!" Sakura replied cheerily. "I'll probably have Science with you."

Sasuke opened his mouth, but the bell rang, cutting him off and swarms of bodies flooded the corridors. He saw Sakura's hand wave to him as she let herself be swept away.

In math, Sakura had Mr. Hatake, Kakashi, the man who constantly sported an eye patch and wore curiously high turtlenecks, basically masking the lower half of his face.

Sakura sank into her seat, trying to pass under everyone's radar and only squeaked a quiet 'here' when her name was called. She looked around to see if anyone had paid any attention to her and was relieved to find everyone busy passing notes about what was under Kakashi's turtleneck.

"So in this class, I don't grade on completion, I grade on understanding, that means even if you have the whole page assigned done but all of the answers are wrong, you fail." The silver haired man drawled. "Your first assignment is to figure out this problem on the board." He gestured towards a blank green chalk board.

Some kid called out, "But there's nothing on it!"

Kakashi's one good eye crinkled in glee. "That is very astute of you, young man. Part of math is figuring out what your information is. You have until the end of the day to present me with the question and answer. Please commence."

Sakura groaned and slumped farther down into her seat, she'd heard that Hatake Kakashi was a strange and very hard teacher to pass but she had no idea he was this obscure. Somewhere up in the heavens a mighty being had already decided she would fail at math, she figured she might as well give up now. So in hopes of getting out of class early, she turned in her paper with her question and answer. Kakashi looked at the paper as she passed it in. No emotion showed on what little of his face she could see so she risked it by asking if she could leave.

"I suppose." The man stretched in his chair and swirled the other way.

Sakura frowned, somehow her teacher reminded her very much of Sasuke.

Out in the hallway, Sakura navigated herself to the nearest bathroom. She wasn't feeling too well, not to mention that the new-found stress Sasuke was providing her with.

A voice drifted over into the stall Sakura was in, "Have you seen the new guy? The one with the black hair and eyes?" it said.

"Omigod, yes! He is so hot, I wonder what his type is." Another bubbly girl replied.

Sakura's chest constricted with some kind of jealousy. She felt strangely possessive of Sasuke for some reason…well, she knew why, but was in severe denial.

The day seemed to drag on forever and when lunch rolled around Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Sakura was mildly disappointed, but also relieved that she got some time to prepare herself for their science class together.

As the aforementioned class drew nearer, Sakura's heart rate increased slightly. She was grabbing her books out of her locker when she looked to her left and saw someone who, strangely, out of all her locker trips, she had not seen all day. "Oh, yeah…" she muttered to herself as she watched Sasuke struggle with his locker combination.

"Stupid piece of--" he was cursing to himself before looking up to see Sakura sniggering into her textbook. His eyes narrowed. "What are you laughing at?"

Sakura's eyes widened innocently. "Hmm, the genius can't remember his combination?"

She could swear she saw Sasuke blush a bit. "Being smart doesn't mean you can memorize a combo on your first day at a very strange…and annoying high school." He lectured, glaring at the girls passing by him and giggling.

"I guess that's true…but, still!" she burst into another fit of laughter while stepping forward to lift the lock to reveal a small sticker on the back with the combination printed on it. "But still, not being able to remember to take the sticker off."

Sasuke, uncharacteristically, blushed a deep crimson red. He coughed, "Yeah, well…" but stopped due to a loss of words.

Sakura curtsied to him, "Always happy to be of service, m'lord!" and skipped off towards the lab.

As soon as Sasuke entered the class after her the bell rang and a woman wearing hardly anything exempt from a lab coat and what seemed to be a mesh dress, waltzed in. "Listen up," she began, brushing some purple hair away from her eyes. "I am not a science teacher but due to unfortunate circumstances, your former teacher is unable to teach for the rest of the year and I've been landed with this position! If you don't want to die, you'd better behave well and do what I say." The class straightened up automatically, choosing seats. The strange lady interrupted, "Don't even bother with your seats right now, I'll be rearranging who sits where…oh yeah, and you can call me Anko. I don't do formalities."

Sakura sighed, she really, really hoped that she would be spared the pain and torture of sitting beside an enemy. As if that cued her, a high pitched voice infiltrated her ears. "Mm, check him out! What a nice body…" Ino spoke.

A girl, Ten-ten, giggled. "Don't even put those thoughts in my head, Ino! I'm dating…Neji!" she whispered back, making sure to say his name extra loud for Sakura's benefit.

"Sakura and Lee, you'll be partners." Anko called out, continuing with, "Ino and Sasuke."

Sakura's head immediately began to hurt. What would happen if Ino started telling Sasuke lies about her? To make matters worse, it looked as if the well known Rock Lee had an infatuation with Sakura. "Let's do our best!" he put his hand on her shoulder, giving a hearty thumbs up.

She sighed, shrugging his hand off. "Yeah…let's."

With Sasuke now attending her high school, the rest of the year would be very interesting.

_Ah sorry for any typos and such, but I've been super busy lately with figuring some personal stuff out and I've been typing this chapter on and off. I hope you enjoy it though!_


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

**_FINALLY, NUMBER SIX!_**

* * *

It was after school, and Sakura was at her preferred grocery store standing in front of a colourful array of vegetables. Eggplant? Carrots? Radishes? She reached a hand tentatively, chipped red nail polish in full view. Out of nowhere another hand grabbed hers and was pulling the startled girl towards the owner's body. "Sakura!" It hollered happily as Sakura's body, at odds with its current condition swayed uncertainly.

It took a moment to place the voice, but as soon as she did, Sakura let her fist fly straight into the boy's face. "Naruto," She yelled, reeling back. "You idiot!"

The hyperactive blond landed in a smoldering heap, only to jump up seconds later grinning widely, an obvious lump appearing on his forehead, where Sakura's punch had connected. "Hey, I haven't seen you since the movie with Hinata!" he straightened, rubbing the back of his head self consciously.

Sakura felt a twinge of guilt at her violent actions, but quickly rationalized to herself that he was in a highly hormonal, pregnant woman's space and had snuck up on her. "That's right, how's Hinata doing anyway?" she asked.

"She's okay, something's up with her cousin though. I don't think they get along very well." Naruto's brows knitted together.

Sakura felt her face morphing into a scowl at the mention of Hinata's cousin. She felt the need to move on, grabbing an eggplant and placing it in her basket she patted Naruto's shoulder as she passed by. "Well, cheer her up, then! I'll see you around, I really have to get this shopping done."

The boy gave her the 'V is for Victory' sign and squeezed his eyes shut in his trademark smile. "No problem!"

Sakura turned down an aisle, shaking her head and laughing softly. Naruto was definitely one of the more insane people she'd met, but it was hard not to like him. When she looked up, she saw someone standing at the end of the aisle, examining canned beans. He was wearing a blue shirt and had black hair and… "Why are you _everywhere_?" Sakura pointed a finger, slightly horrified, slightly pleased.

Sasuke looked up, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looked blandly back at her. "I'm not everywhere, you're just stalking me." He shrugged.

Sakura felt her grip tightening on her grocery basket and her face reddening. "Don't even begin to think that you're important enough for that! You have a big enough head already."

Sasuke just kept staring, then pivoted on his heel and began walking away.

"W-wait!" Sakura called out. "Um, in science, did…did Ino say anything about me to you?"

The boy's onyx eyes came into view again as he turned his head. "Should she have?" he asked, starting to close the distance between them with alarming speed.

"U-uh…no, just…don't listen to anything she says about me." Sakura said sharply, her stuttering reminding herself of Hinata.

"I already don't, it's hard enough to just be around her…excruciating presence." Sasuke rubbed his temples.

Sakura giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth, embarrassed at the girly character Sasuke brought out in her.

Just then there was a crashing sound coming from behind Sasuke. He whirled around and Sakura could see him bring his clenched fists up in front of him. She looked past him to see an old man wearing an argyle cardigan, he had dropped a jar of canned beets on the floor, their purplish red juice staining the floor. "Oh dear…" he shook his head, "My grip isn't what it used to be."

Sakura rushed to help the man, deciding to ignore Sasuke's strange behaviour. She took another jar off the shelf and put it in the gentleman's basket. "There you go, I'll go get help from one of the cashiers or something." She chirruped.

The man took her hand and patted it, "Thank you dear." He smiled, then reached into his pocket to produce a candy. "Why don't you have this to match your sweet personality?" With that he ambled off.

She grinned to herself and pocketed the candy skipping (or swaying) back to Sasuke. "What a nice senior citizen!"

His eyes were still dark and narrowed with what looked like suspicion, and while his hands were lax, his jaw was clenched tightly. "Do you have everything you need?" he grunted at her.

Sakura did a mental check list. "Let's see, eggplant, asiago cheese, seasoning…" she ticked them off. "Yeah, that should be good; we're having grilled eggplant tonight."

"Let's go, then." Was Sasuke's terse reply.

He grabbed the basket and marched her towards the check out line, occasionally checking behind them. Absently, when it was their turn to pay Sasuke slapped down a fifty dollar bill and brusquely shoved the items into Sakura's cloth shopping bag. He then grabbed her hand and basically tore out of the store. "S-sasuke!" Sakura's ragged breath coming in short gasps, "I…can't…keep up. What's wro-"

* * *

But even before she could ask, Sakura was out like a light-bulb.

Sakura awoke, swaddled in blankets in a strange room. Her head and neck hurt terribly and her vision was slightly hazy.

Reaching up groggily, she rubbed at her eyes and smacked her lips, she was thirsty. "Here." Came no other than Sasuke's monotonous drone, accompanied by himself holding a glass of water out to her.

Sakura took it gratefully, downing half of the glass in one gulp. Looking relieved, Sasuke leaned back into the chair he was sitting on. "Are you okay? You kind of passed out back there."

The pink haired girl struggled to recall what had been happening before she awoke. "But…you were making me run somewhere…you were worried about something, I thought." Only vague visions of the old man in the grocery store, Sasuke pulling her, a sense of panic played in her mind.

Sasuke's face twitched into an unrecognizable expression before he sneered, "You were looking faint, I thought we should get you to the hospital as soon as possible…you never know what could go wrong if you're pregnant."

Sakura thought she heard some sort of undertone to his explanation but said nothing, she watched Sasuke scratch his ear, from where she lay she thought she could see a massive bruise on the side of face where his hair normally covered. And on his forearm there was a wound that looked like it was inflicted with a knife.

He caught her staring and smiled somewhat ruefully, "That isn't from myself, if that's what you're thinking. I know where to cut if I need to. This one's just an accident." He stated bluntly.

Sakura cringed at how honest he could be about his problems; she had noticed it before but hadn't tried to bring it up yet. Then, an alarming realization hit her, she was in Sasuke's room! She jolted up, only to be greeted by a pang of agony searing down her head and neck. She ignored it as she tried to drink in every detail; blue walls, gray carpet, desk, clean, organized. It was not a very exciting room, she was dismayed to find out.

"What, you were expecting more?" he smiled gently, playing with his tongue piercing, the one Sakura had found so amazing when she first noticed it. "I don't spend much time in here, anyways, so there isn't a point."

"Where else would you spend your time?" Sakura asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sasuke smirked.

But before she could quip a witty retort, what almost seemed like routine, an interruption occurred. "Sasuke, I'm home." A feminine voice called from below the room.

"Crap." Sasuke's hands went directly to his face, rubbing his temples. "Alright…Angela."

_Angela? _Sakura thought, _who is this…woman, in Sasuke's house? _

"I'm going out to get something for dinner, I'll be back in ten." 'Angela' said with a warning tone.

"Right." Sasuke replied, a note of strain evident in his voice.

After listening to the door slam Sakura turned on Sasuke, glaring at him. "Is there something you aren't telling me? Who exactly is this…Angela?"

"What, don't tell me you're jealous?" Sasuke widened his eyes in mock surprise.

Sakura turned pink and spluttered, "Of course not! I'm just curious!"

Chortling, the black haired boy stood, "She's my foster mom."

Sakura's face turned an even darker shade of red, "Oh."

"I believe you saw her, actually, in the hospital…" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Y…yeah, really? Why are you in foster care?" the now very embarrassed pink headed girl asked timidly, trying to veer the subject away from her foolish incidents.

"My parents are dead." Sasuke stated, no hint of emotion.

"O-oh, I'm sorry." Sakura apologized quickly.

"Yeah, well, you didn't know."

A heavy silence fell for a few moments before Sasuke wheeled around, "We'd better get you back to your house."

Sakura looked at the alarm clock beside the bed, 6:45pm, "Shit." Was the comment at realizing she had better prepare herself for the volcano, who was her father that was going to erupt when she got home.

Sasuke pulled up to the driveway, handing the slightly tattered grocery bag to Sakura as she slid out of her seat. "Thanks…" she started to say.

"Yeah, no problem, bye." Sasuke said shortly, pulling the door closed and speeding away.

* * *

Upon opening the door she saw a very angry, red father standing in wait. "Just who was that boy you were with right now?" his terse accusation started.

"I…fainted and he helped me get home." Sakura replied.

"Hmph, and he just so happens to be the same one I saw you…_flirting _with in the hospital the other day?" Mr. Haruno spat 'flirting' out like a dirty word.

In truth, Sakura was surprised her father remembered Sasuke. "Yes, that's him."

"And how am I to know you are telling the truth?" a vein bulged out his forehead.

Sakura wasn't even sure if she was telling the truth, Sasuke's excuse as to why he was so worried and her sudden state of unconsciousness was certainly sketchy, but she was not about to be told she was a liar. "Why can't you just trust me this once? I am not an easy girl that guys just take out for a fun ride! Why would they do that when I'm pregnant, anyways? Sasuke is a friend and I see no problem with me hanging around him, he has never given you reason to be suspicious of him." She yelled.

"Oh, Sasuke, is it? Well you can tell that boy, Sasuke, that if he ever lays a finger on you, he'd better say good bye to both arms." Her parental unit jabbed his own finger at her before swiftly turning around and going back into his den.

But if Sakura wasn't mistaken, she could have sworn the last statement was ridden with fatherly protectiveness. It was most likely wishful thinking, though.

On the roll of reading undertones, Sakura thought back to Sasuke's lame excuse to her fainting. That boy was hiding something, and she was going to find out what it was.

* * *

_a/n: GUH FINALLY. I'm sorry, I'm a terrible person, terrible, terrible, terrible. Thing is, I started writing and then I was like, 'urgh, mental puking, nothing sounds good' and I couldn't do anything creative for a while. But here is another chapter! Rawr, I love men with tongue piercings._


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